


Slow Dance

by Angelfishi



Category: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha | Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-22
Updated: 2013-03-22
Packaged: 2017-12-06 02:00:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/730326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelfishi/pseuds/Angelfishi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You tried not to notice. You tried to not fall for her. But there it was, and there she stood, the both of you seeming to revolve around each other in a slow dance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slow Dance

**Author's Note:**

> My MSLN otp has always been Chronoha, with Yuunoha being a close second. I'm not homophobic in the least, but I always saw Fate as no more than a very close friend and sister to Nanoha. Chronoha is not appreciated nearly enough as it should be, what with all the canon hints at Chrono's attraction to Nanoha, so please enjoy.
> 
> It's my first time writing in this point of view, so I might make some mistakes. I'll try and revise more later.

You had your whole life planned out. Help your mother run the ship, keep Amy in check, inherit the ship, keep Amy in check, and keep on getting promoted as a Mage until you died happy. Or at least semi-happy.

Then she came up.

At first, she was just another lawbreaker. Using magic in mortal territory? Was she an idiot? But as soon as that startled expression that practically screamed _“Oh, no, did I do something wrong?”_ came up on her face, you just couldn’t help but stare into those big blue eyes. No, wait, it wasn’t staring. It was _scanning_. You just had the habit of scanning your target before a possible battle.

Well, the result of that sta— _scanning_ was the blond girl teleporting away along with an older girl with dog ears. A familiar? You’d have to check into that later. But for now, you took the girl and her weird little ferret familiar up into the ship.

The next eventful thing that happened was the familiar turning back into a human-like shape. The girl was a little more than shocked.

(Did you just hear one of those bullet-proof windows shatter?)

Oh. So the ferret boy _wasn’t_ a familiar, but a friend of the girl. Fending off an eye twitch, you led the pair into your mother’s quarters.

**\--**

_So how the hell did she get recruited?_

…Were your thoughts as mommy dearest announced the newest team members stood up and bowed, saying their thanks for allowing them to stay there.

As the two rose, that girl—what was her name again?—met your eyes and smiled.

You felt your face get hot, and you determinedly directed your gaze outside of the window. You could hear the girl making small, confused noises, and the ferret-boy growling under his throat.

**\--**

Over the months that would follow, the girl had proven to be useful as well as troublemaking.

For some reason, you couldn’t keep your eyes off of her for a second without her getting into trouble. She was like Amy. No, scratch that, she was _worse_ than Amy, and that was saying something.

At least once a day, she would find some way to do something that was amazingly stupid.

Like that one time. You were just walking down the corridor of the Asura, minding your own business, which just so happened to be a few reports of space-time activity. Then, literally out of nowhere, she came flying around the corner and into you.

You would ask her what the hell was she doing, and she would meekly answer, “W-well, I was practicing my flying skills, and I lost control, and, and, um…”

You blinked dumbly, but on the inside you were seething. Was this a _joke_? No, it couldn’t be, she was all dolled up in her barrier jacket and the wings were on her feet. But did she really think that would be a good idea? She could have gotten hurt, or worse. She could have gone straight through an emergency exit door and into the time-space continuum.

And you just _lost it_. You yelled at her about how stupid that was, how she could have hurt someone, how using her magic on the ship was strictly forbidden. You had never yelled like that before, not even at Amy.

She would be looking down at her feet the whole time, and after your little tirade she would murmur “Sorry” and—were those tears in her eyes?—run back down the halls into her own dorm that she shared with ferret-boy.

That very night, you would flop into bed and sigh, wondering when exactly was it you started worrying so much about her.

\--

Over the weeks she stayed on the ship, whether it was collecting Jewel Seeds, training, or just plain socializing, the girl never failed to make your chest tighten. The bounce in her step, the white dress fluttering around her small legs, her reddish-brown pigtails swaying as she walked—

Just passing her in the hall caused you to stop dead in your tracks and turn your head to catch that extra glance.

You couldn’t figure it out, the speeding up of your heart, the simple happiness when you somehow did something that made her smile, the—

(oh, Alhazard forbid you say this—)

 _Fluttering_ feeling in your stomach you got when you caught hard at work practicing her magic, shooting at empty soda cans in seemingly empty hallways of the ship.

You didn’t understand it. And you _hated_ things you didn’t understand.

So you did what you had always done best—studied. Internet, a library, the Asura had it all. You looked up the symptoms of your strange, _strange_ illness in your chest. It _had_ to have been an illness, probably one brought on by the Mage from Earth.

Or so you thought.

 _“Love?”_ You had actually cried aloud, in the middle of the library as you gawked at what your laptop screen was telling you.

No. No, no, no, _no._ Im _possible._ This went against _anything_ and _everything_ that had to do with your plans, your logic, your godforsaken _sanity._

But there it was, clear as day? So what did you do? Reject it. Slam your laptop shut and storm out of that library as proud as a lion, refusing to give in. And of course, as you left, there was the wicked witch of insanity herself, blinking her large blue eyes up in confusion at you.

Face growing hot, you diverted your eyes before they could go from glancing to staring, and as soon as you were out of her sight, turned on the balls of your feet and fled down the hall to your haven, your safe place, your fortress, your room.

It _couldn’t_ be.

It was _impossible._

**\--**

Yep.

That teared it.

You loved her.

Despite Amy’s lecherous glances whenever your gaze happened to wander to the girl, or the multiple officers smiling like an old grandparent about ‘little Chrono’s first crush’, or the almost certain fact that your mother was asking the girl about what she thought of her son, none of that seemed to convince you of your attraction more than this. This just whacked you in the head, coming out of nowhere, literally.

No, really. _Literally._

You had just exited your room, about to walk down to breakfast, when the girl crashed into you again. Luckily for her, she hadn’t decided to fly there.  She _had_ , however, decided it would be OK to run down the halls at mach speed.

You only caught a glimpse of her blue eyes before she realized who she had bumped into. Her eyes widened, and her face went slightly red before she stammered, “Hi Chrono-kun bye Chrono-kun” before racing off again.

But not before turning the wrong corner.

You sighed and quickly raced after her, Mother would have your head if you let the girl get lost on the ship.

You caught up with her, and grabbed onto her hand to stop her.

She spun around, startled, and you explained to her that the cafeteria was _that_ way. She smiled and thanked you, and you would start walking back to the cafeteria. You thought idly about how warm her hand was, and then you realized. You were holding her hand.

_You were still holding her hand._

You snuck a sideways glance at her, and she seemed the same as usual. Blue eyes sparkling, pigtails bouncing, complexion shining… Wait, since when had you started judging her complexion as ‘shining’?

You considered letting her hand go, but decided against it. After all, she seemed to be unaware about the event, and letting go would a) Make her feel stupid, b) Make _you_ feel stupid, or c) Make both you _and_ her feel stupid.

Most likely C.

So you held on until you both arrived at the cafeteria, at which point you carefully slipped your hand out of her grasp. She glanced at you, blushed, and muttered a quick “Sorry” before running off to sit with Ferret Boy, who glared at you suspiciously. You glared back, but it was only half-heartedly as you were thinking of other things.

 _‘Why did I keep holding her hand?’_ thought you as you sat by Amy. Why didn’t you let go, regardless of her feelings? Why did you feel as if your insides were going to explode whenever she smiled at any boy but you?

Why did your heart beat so fast whenever she _did_ smile at you?

“…her.” You stirred out of your thoughts at Amy’s voice saying something.

“Err, what was that?” You asked, embarrassed. Amy rolled her eyes, but a bright smile stayed plastered on her face.

“I said, ‘You love her’.”

“Oh.” You said, going back to staring at the redhead in question. Then you blinked.

Wait.

Back up.

_What?_

“E—eh?” You stammered, gaze whipping back to the grinning brunette. Amy smiled more and repeated, “You love Nanoha-chan. Plain and simple.”

“Wait—h-hold on—how do you—?” You stuttered more. Dammit, why were you getting so flustered?! “Come on, Chrono-kun.” Amy said. “I can see it in the way you look at her. I can see it every time she smiles at you—scratch that, I can see it every time she freaking _talks_ to y—“

You’d heard enough. Standing up, you left the table, walking out the door, all eyes watching you.

Including hers.

When you arrived at your room, you slammed the door, leaned against it, and slid to the floor.

Amy had said you loved the girl.

For once, Amy was right.

Now all that was left was to _tell_ the little Mage about how you felt.

After all, honesty was something that came naturally to all soldiers… right?

**\--**

You’d never confessed to a girl before, but you were pretty sure this wasn’t the way to do it.

‘This’ being standing in front of her door like some sort of creeper, and at two o’ clock in the morning, no less.

With the occasional sigh and hand through the hair, you look back on your life, your choices. Here you are, a strapping boy in his fourteenth year, about to confess to a… nine year old. Yeah, this could be the worst idea ever.

But she’s so _sweet,_ so _caring,_ when she looks at you it's like you're in the _only person in the world._ God forbid you actually think this, but there's just something that _draws_ you to the girl. You can’t place it. You just love her. She is kind, understanding, cheerful, naïve, oh, _god,_ was she naïve, she probably didn’t even understand romance—

Oh, hell.

_What if she doesn’t understand romance?_

Looking back on it, it’s a stupid thought, but nonetheless you panicked. What if she thinks you just love her as a friend? What if she gets scared and runs off to Lindy? Oh, Mother will give _hell_ if she finds out of this attraction, she’ll go arranging marriages or giving an announcement in the cafeteria or, or—

“Chrono-kun?”

You yelp.

Loudly.

For there, in the place of the very door that you could have _sworn_ was closed not one second ago, is the redheaded girl who’s popped up in your dreams far too often lately. Clad in pink pajamas with her vivid hair slightly mussed up from dragging herself out of bed. Absolutely precious.

“Chrono… kun?” she yawns again, rubbing the remnants of sleep from her eyes. “What are you…”

You gulp, cursing yourself for your idiocy. Why, _why_ hadn’t you cast a shielding incantation so she wouldn’t sense your magic?! Nine years old she may be, but this was a Mage whose powers far surpassed ones much older and wiser. Of _course_ she would have sensed you standing at her door, your aura wavering in panic and embarrassment.

“I was, um,” you stammer, reaching desperately for an excuse, _any_ excuse, _any godforsaken reason_ you _might_ have been wandering around her room at _two mother-fucking AM._ “Just… doing some late night patrol. Captain has been tightening up security lately.”

“Oh,” she mumbles. Then she blinks. “Then, why wasn’t I ordered to patrol?”

Shit.

“Too young,” you reply quickly, “kids your age need sleep. Besides, you’re a special guest of the Asura. We can’t have you doing menial tasks like these.”

You can practically _hear_ her pout.

“A-anyway!” You manage, the last scrap of courage you had been trying so badly to save leaving you, “it’s late. I’ll let you sleep. Good ni—“

“Nee, Chrono-kun, are you hungry?”  
“Eh.”

\--

_So how did it end up like this?_

You ask yourself as you sit quietly on the girl’s bed, waiting for her to return from the small kitchen her room on the Asura is equipped with. The ferret has moved to a separate room, and you give a prayer of thanks for that—for one, it’d be too awkward having him in here too, and for another, you just… don’t like the idea of the girl sharing a room with her male friend. 

As you wait, you contemplate your choices. You can run away, forgetting any of this ever happened. Or you can sit here and have… well, whatever she’s doing in there. You decide to go for the second, risky as it may be, because you can’t go making the girl upset after you _waited outside her door like a stalker._

With that wrapped up, the girl walks in from the kitchen, carrying a small tray of tea and sweets. “Sorry it’s not much,” she says, setting it down gently on the bedside table.

You mumble some sort of cross between “it’s fine” and “whatever,” praying you can at least make it through this night without your heart ripping violently out of your chest. Taking a cup of tea, you begin to sip it.

“You know, Chrono-kun, you’re a really amazing person.”

And proceed to slop the tea down your chin and shirt in a clumsy mess—plus, the beverage seems to still be scalding hot, making you yelp in pain.

“Ah!” The girl gasps, immediately going frantic as she grabs a napkin off the tray. “I’m sorry! O-oh, gosh, d-did I startle you?!”

The redhead is now trying to wipe the tea off your lips, chin, neck, chest, and she’s close—so close—too close. You can hear her high, flutelike voice as it worries, you can see her pink, soft-looking lips as they move ever so slightly with her quiet words, you can feel her hands as they gently dab at you, cleaning you up, and you can smell her—creepy, but true. She smells like fresh pastries and coffee which makes sense because you heard her family runs a café, but at the same time makes _no sense whatsoever_ because she hasn’t been home in, what, three months? But nonetheless, it’s too close, you know you’ll lose control, it’s only a matter of time before—

“Stop!” you exclaim, pushing her off abruptly.

The girl’s blue eyes widen in shock, but then go downcast in shame and embarrassment. You curse yourself internally—why does this always have to happen? Always, _always,_ you end up making her sad.

“…I… I…” she gulps, whimpering. “…I’m sorry.”

“No—that’s—“ You can’t do anything but look on, kicking yourself, wishing you were someone that could actually help and protect her. But you can’t. You’re just some cold, unfeeling soldier, one who has his whole life planned out, who can’t make time for silly fantasies of romance at his tender age. It’s only natural this would happen because it’s hopeless for a dark shadow to pursue her dazzling light. You’re hopeless, useless, clueless…

And that’s when, before you realize it, your arms are around her and you’re pulling her into a gentle hug.

You can hear her slight squeak at this sudden action, but that’s not important—you need to say this.

“No,” you finally manage, “I’m sorry.” Then all the words come tumbling out. “I’m sorry for being mean, and rude, and cold all of the time. That’s not how I should have acted around you, our guest. You don’t deserve that. And the tea—that was all my doing, I was just… just startled by what you said.”

Not a confession of love, but for you, it’s pretty good.

You can feel her stiff form in your arms slowly, ever so slightly loosen. Eventually, she’s relaxed, almost… leaning on you.

“…Chrono-kun, you don’t have to be sorry,” she murmurs. “I never thought that you were mean.”

…What?

_What?_

…But… you were a jerk.

Looking down slightly, you can see that her eyelids are drooping. She _is_ still just a child, and children shouldn’t be up at this ungodly hour.

You move her slowly so as not to disturb her oncoming slumber. Her eyes are just barely open, trying to stay fixed on you—and you know this isn’t the time to ask—but if you don’t do it now… when will you?

“…What did you mean by… me being amazing?” you mutter, just loud enough so she might hear.

And hear she does, for the girl blinks before smiling very faintly.

“…Because, Chrono-kun… you really are amazing,” she mumbles through her drowsiness. “You’re strong, and smart, and cool… and you always help me.”

Your heart trembles at that. “…But… I always yell at you.”

More of a smile before she goes on. “It’s just because you worry, right? Chrono-kun, you… you’re a nice person… you’ve always looked out for me. I want to… repay you one day.

When she says those words, something catches in your throat. Some kind of lump forms, and you actually fear that you, the dignified, unshakable Chrono Harlaown, will actually shed a tear over this… this girl.

 “You do repay me,” you manage to say thickly without letting the emotions overflow, and your hair actually caresses her cheek as you continue,“you repay me every day.”

And the look that comes over her face is confused, and yet happy at the same time. Her eyes close, the smile remaining, and you believe she’s asleep—but of course, she always manages to surprise you at the last second…

“Nee… Chrono… kun?”

“What?”

“…Call me by my name.”

For once, you know what to do.

“…Nanoha.”

The smile on her face spreads more, and you can feel the corners of your own mouth turning up a bit.

“…Goodnight, Nanoha.”

She finally succumbs to sleep then, her body relaxing into deep slumber.

Leaning back against the extra pillows, sitting up beside her sleeping form, you grab the spare tea cup from the tray and fill it up from the teapot. Drinking it, you realize this is your mother’s blend—she must have taught Nanoha how to make it.

Laughing slightly, softly, a sound that surprises your own ears, you contemplate how this girl—no, this _Nanoha—_ manages to bring smiles to so many people. At first you only thought she was incredible in power. Oh, how wrong you were.

Setting the cup down, you gently pull the blankets over Nanoha’s body and your lap. You decide to finish off the tea before it gets cold and wasted, then go straight back to bed. Your plan set, you decide to hurry up, reaching for the cup again…

…but as always, the girl shoots a Starlight Breaker right through your plan, rolling over a bit so she’s snuggling into you and grabbing your hand.

Blinking, setting the cup down, you look down at Nanoha… and then feel yourself smile very slightly.

You decide that, at least for now, you can take your time.

That time, however, becomes longer than expected when before you know it, you’ve drifted off to dreamland yourself next to Nanoha.

\--

Needless to say, the next morning, you face hell from Yuuno when he walks in on you and Nanoha embracing in your sleep.

 

**Author's Note:**

> The ending puts me off a bit, but I like the idea of Yuuno walking in on an unintentionally embracing Nanoha and Chrono. He gets so jealous of Chrono in canon!
> 
> Thanks for reading my first post on AO3!


End file.
